Wirelessly controlling Arduino

After I got my curtains open/close from my computer, I wanted to be able to do things wirelessly so I didn’t have to go to my computer every time I wanted to switch my fan on or open and close my curtains.

If you don’t want to get the XBee wireless module for Arduino (which is expensive if you ask me), you can control your Arduino through an RF receiver and transmitter. I had an old cheap remote controlled car laying around so I took out the RF receiver from the car and attached it to Arduino. The RF receiver board had 4 data wires, and 2 power wires (positive and ground).

I attached the board to Arduino’s 3.3v, ground and PWM pins, and read the signals sent by the RF receiver board when the remote was at normal state and when I pressed a button. Then using those values, I wrote a program to turn the relay on/off. If you don’t already have a cheap remote controlled car or can’t get one for less than 10 dollars, then you can buy RF receiver and transmitter from sparkfun.com.

Here is a video of me controlling my fan through the remote. I can also control it from my computer.

Here’s a picture of the car I destroyed for my project:

Here’s the RF receiver I took out of the car and soldered wires to:

Author: Moazzam

Moazzam is a software developer working in the big apple. He has over a decade of experience in development. While most of his work involves developing web applications, he does development for Android and Windows Mobile in his spare time.
View all posts by Moazzam